World Risk Index 2020 | UPSC

• India was ‘poorly prepared’ to deal with ‘climate reality’.
• Lack of preparation leads to more vulnerable to extreme natural disasters, according to the World Risk Index (WRI) 2020.

SOURCES : DownToEarth

• Sri Lanka, Bhutan and the Maldives fared better than India in their abilities to cope with extreme disasters.
• India also lagged behind these three neighbours in terms of lack of adaptive capacities or the preparedness to deal with extreme events.
• India and other south Asian nations did improve their ranking marginally in the World Risk Index during the course of a year.
• Bhutan improved its ranking the most, followed by Pakistan.

REPORT ANALYSIS

• All south Asian countries had slipped on their ability to adapt to the reality of climate emergency.

• Countries with a score above 52.73, were ‘very poor’ in their capacities to adapt to extreme natural disasters.

SOURCES : DownToEarth

SMALL ISLAND NATIONS AND AFRICA

• It was followed by Tonga and Dominica.
• These also included countries at risk from the rise in sea level as a result of global warming.
• The small island states had limited financial resources and had made small contributions to climate change, but were affected the most by its consequences.

• They needed to be compensated for the climate damage and losses already incurred.
• Qatar had the lowest risk (0.31) according to the global index.

• The Central African Republic was the most vulnerable country, followed by Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo.

REPORT RAISES ALARM

• Extreme weather events with major damage to property, infrastructure and loss of human life

• Human-made environmental damage and disasters, including environmental crime, such as oil spills, and radioactive contamination.
• Major biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse (terrestrial or marine) with irreversible consequences for the environment.
• Major natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, and geomagnetic storms.

SOURCES : WEF